Ezekiel 15:6 (CEB)Therefore, the LORD God proclaims: Of all the trees in the forest, I have decreed that the vine's wood is destined to be consumed by fire. So also have I decreed for those who live in Jerusalem,

Ezekiel 15:6 (CEBA)Therefore, the LORD God proclaims: Of all the trees in the forest, I have decreed that the vine's wood is destined to be consumed by fire. So also have I decreed for those who live in Jerusalem,

Ezekiel 15:6 (CSB)"Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 15:6 (GW)"So this is what the Almighty LORD says: As a vine is taken from among the trees in the forest to be used to feed the fire, so I will take the people who live in Jerusalem to punish them.

Ezekiel 15:6 (MSG)"So here's the Message of God, the Master: Like the wood of the vine I selected from among the trees of the forest and used as fuel for the fire, just so I'll treat those who live in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 15:6 (NCV)So this is what the Lord God says: "Out of all the trees in the forest, I have given the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem

Ezekiel 15:6 (NIV)"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 15:6 (NLT)"And this is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have set them aside to be burned!

Ezekiel 15:6 (TNIV)"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 15:6 (WYC)Therefore the Lord God saith these things, As the tree of a vine is among the trees of woods, which I gave to fire to devour, so I gave the dwellers of Jerusalem, (And so the Lord God saith these things, Like the vine tree is among the trees in the woods, which I gave to the fire to devour, so I shall take the inhabitants of Jerusalem,)

Commentaries For Ezekiel 15

- If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.

Ezekiel 15:1-8 . THE WORTHLESSNESS OF THE VINE AS WOOD ESPECIALLY WHEN BURNT, IS THE IMAGE OF THE WORTHLESSNESS AND GUILT OF THE JEWS, WHO SHALL PASS FROM ONE FIRE TO ANOTHER.

This chapter represents, in the way of a brief introduction, what the sixteenth chapter details minutely.

2, 3. What has the vine-wood to make it pre-eminent above other forest-wood? Nothing. Nay, the reverse. Other trees yield useful timber, but vine-wood is soft, brittle, crooked, and seldom large; not so much as a "pin" (the large wooden peg used inside houses in the East to hang household articles on, Isaiah 22:23-25 ) can be made of it. Its sole excellency is that it should bear fruit; when it does not bear fruit, it is not only not better, but inferior to other trees: so if God's people lose their distinctive excellency by not bearing fruits of righteousness, they are more unprofitable than the worldly ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ), for they are the vine; the sole end of their being is to bear fruit to His glory ( Psalms 80:8Psalms 80:9 , Isaiah 5:1 , &c. Jeremiah 2:21 , Hosea 10:1 , Matthew 21:33 ). In all respects, except in their being planted by God, the Jews were inferior to other nations, as Egypt, Babylon, &c., for example, in antiquity, extent of territory, resources, military power, attainments in arts and sciences. or than a branch--rather, in apposition with "the vine tree." Omit "or than." What superiority has the vine if it be but a branch among the trees of the forest, that is, if, as having no fruit, it lies cut down among other woods of trees?

4. cast into . . . fire--( John 15:6 ). both the ends--the north kingdom having been already overturned by Assyria under Tiglath-pileser; the south being pressed on by Egypt ( 2 Kings 23:29-35 ). midst of it is burned--rather, "is on flame"; namely, Jerusalem, which had now caught the flame by the attack of Nebuchadnezzar. Is it meet for any work--"it," that is, the scorched part still remaining.

7. And I will set my face against from one fire . . . another--(Compare Isaiah 24:18 ). "Fire" means here every kind of calamity ( Psalms 66:12 ). The Jewish fugitives shall escape from the ruin of Jerusalem, only to fall into some other calamity.

8. trespass--rather, "they have perversely fallen into perverse rebellion." The Jews were not merely sinners as the other nations, but revolters and apostates. It is one thing to neglect what we know not, but quite another thing to despise what we profess to worship [JEROME], as the Jews did towards God and the law.